Surveillance, AI And Synthetic Media: Reclaiming Digital Dignity In The Age Of Algorithmic Governance
- IJLLR Journal
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Malavika Manivannan, SVKM'S Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies
Introduction
The rapid developing digital era has been boon as well as a ban for the contemporary society, where the individual autonomy and personhood within the digital realm are at stake, and the very essence of human identity hands in precarious balance. These situations do not merely constitute speculative cacotopia but represent the tangible demand of the contemporary digital setting, wherein developing technologies like Artificial Intelligence (hereinafter AI) and deepfakes that inevitably attenuate the judicial and ethical demarcation between real and fake, subjugation and self- determination, in this process of nullification of the borderline between fake and real the Digital Dignity of human beings and the national security of the state are in jeopardy.
Digital Dignity consist of a complex synthesis of individuals digital footprint such as online communication, biometric markers, social media presence and transactional footprints. These are the elements which exceed mere data points. Infringing upon this digital persona leads to intrusion upon individuals’ privacy, dignity, integrity and choice. A robust normative protection shall be necessitated due to a profound connection found between the digital dignity and core human experience in the current digital era.
Moreover, Digital Dignity encompasses of three core components: informational integrity, the protection misrepresentation of personal data and unauthorised alteration of personal information; autonomy, the control and authority of individuals over their personal data and digital presence and representation authenticity, the right to control the use of one’s likeness, voice and persona in digital media. These elements together ensure that individuals are not mere data point nor algorithmic prediction but are to be treated with dignity and rights- bearing agents with inherent moral and legal worth.
India's Constitution provides a foundation for recognizing and balancing digital rights. In the Puttaswamy Decision the Supreme Court recognized that privacy is a component of Article 21 of the Constitution and that autonomy, self-determination, and bodily integrity are parts of human dignity. This important jurisprudence can now look to the digital sphere in determining the extent to which emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, surveillance technologies and deep fakes affect the rights of individuals.
